The Montgomery County History Digital Repository
The Montgomery County History Digital Repository (MCHDR) collects, preserves and distributes digital material of and about Montgomery County, Maryland, USA.
This repository is a service of Montgomery History whose mission is to collect, preserve, interpret and share the histories of all of Montgomery County’s residents.
Recent Submissions
Item type:Item, Record of Slaves in Montgomery County at the Time of the Adoption of the Constitution in 1864(1867)This report of the Commissioner of Slave Statistics was taken in 1867-1868 in Montgomery County, Maryland, based on the state of enslavement as of emancipation in 1864. The commissioner who compiled the information for Montgomery County was George Patterson. The list of enslavers documented in the original ledgerbook are not in any discernable order, and were probably documented in the order they were received. Information given about the formerly enslaved includes full names and ages -- the majority of surnames ARE included, though some applicant enslavers did not provide them. Other details such as military service or mental competency are occasionally included. This report has been transcribed in various forms; a new transcription in sortable form with corrections, additions, cross-references to other sources is in process and will be available here soon. The original scans from microfilm are provided here for reference.Item type:Item, Excerpt: The Public Schools of Montgomery County, Maryland(The Brookings Institution, 1939-08)This collection contains excerpts of a report titled "The Public Schools of Montgomery County, Maryland" by David Spence Hill, for the Brookings Institution, August 1939. This report constitutes background research for the official Brookings Report on Montgomery County's Government published in 1941. Provided here are the sections reporting on the segregated Black schools of the county in the late 1930s, including population assessments, existing social and physical infrastructure, enrollment numbers, and reports on the 25 individual elementary schools and one high school provided by the county for Black children that include condition of the facilities, faculty, janitorial service provided, and recommendations for improvements. Also included is a very thorough reporting of other aspects of the Black residents' lives during this period, such as professions, education levels, migration trends, etc.Item type:Item, 1860 U.S. Federal Census for Montgomery County, Maryland: Schedule 2 (Slave Inhabitants)(1860)Listing of enslaved people enumerated in the 1860 federal census. Enslaved individuals noted by age and gender only. Some noted as fugitive. Listed by enslavers, sorted by District. Surnames of enslavers not in alphabetical order. Other information included: number of slave houses provided by enslaver. The original handwritten census schedule pages are provided; also included is a transcription of the original list with notes and corrections, in original order, but also indexed alphabetically. See notes at the beginning of the transcription for more information. To assist in transcribing the names, the following previous transcriptions were consulted and discrepancies were noted: Hurley, W. N. (1998). Montgomery County, Maryland 1860 census. Heritage Books, Bowie, MD. Sween, Jane. 1989 [1868]. Record of Slaves in Montgomery County, Maryland at the Time of the Adoption of the Constitution in 1864 [transcription]Item type:Item, The Negro Agriculturalist: a Journal for the Farm (1909)(Maryland Normal and Agricultural Institute, 1909)Published by the faculty of the Maryland Normal and Agricultural Institute in Sandy Spring, Maryland: George H.C. Williams, principal. Content includes news from the community, advertisements for local businesses and events, and articles on horticulture. The single PDF includes Volume 1, Number 1 (February 1909) and Volume 1, Numbers 7-8 (August and September 1909)Item type:Item, Advocacy, Activism, and Citizen Participation: The League of Women Voters and the Moderately Priced Dwelling Unit Program(Montgomery History, 2026-03)By the 1970s, Montgomery County had grown to become one of the most affluent—and, by some measures, exclusive—counties in the country, yet it was increasingly clear that even current residents’ children or elderly parents would soon not be able to afford to live here. Through the leadership of the League of Women Voters of Montgomery County, housing activists worked for years to spread awareness about the county’s housing problems, convincing residents and politicians alike that government-mandated “moderately priced dwelling units” or MPDUs were part of the solution. Together, the LWVMC and the housing coalition made Montgomery County the birthplace of a new type of policy: one that harnessed the power of local government and industry to solve an issue afflicting cities and suburbs across the United States, and one that continues to shape debates about housing today.
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